


Blood and Ice

by eloisestarryeyes



Category: Arthurian Mythology & Related Fandoms, Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms, Original Work, Snedronningen | The Snow Queen - Hans Christian Andersen
Genre: Bad guy team up, Character Study, Crack Treated Seriously, Crossover, Except not really?, Fairy Tale Retellings, Ficlet, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Don't Even Know, I can assure you it’s not because I think I’m clever, I do some things here that have clearly been done before, Other, References to Canon, Writing Exercise, crackship?, i just think they’re neat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26945065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eloisestarryeyes/pseuds/eloisestarryeyes
Summary: In which a treacherous knight meets a monarch of winter.
Kudos: 2





	1. Numb

**Author's Note:**

> This.. thing isn’t anything special, I just wrote it for practice. People seemed to like it on Discord so I decided to put it here. This is connected to a larger original narrative I'm working on, but it's sure as hell not going to be here. Have fun, I guess.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A discussion.

“...Your majesty?”

Mordred walked through the pure white garden up to the Snow Queen, who sat between two lone trees. The trees had long since withered under her rule, but they still held icy roses by her unspoken orders. The snowstorm that never ended up north was calm for the moment, reflecting her. As the knight got closer, he could see the queen was holding something. By the time he reached her, he saw that she held a cloth that was in an ebony frame. The pattern sewn on it was unfinished. She picked up a red rosebud that had fallen from one of the trees. It was the only red thing in the entire area.

“How is your progress?” The Snow Queen asked in the monotone way she always speaks.

“...Fine.” The Game of Reason, as she called it, was difficult but he could figure out. That was the deal. If Mordred could form the word Eternity out of the shards of ice she provided, then power will be his.

“Good.”

“If you don’t mind me asking your highness, what are you doing?”

“Reminiscing.”

“On what?”

“My daughters.”

That was odd. She never mentioned she had children before. She spoke of previous lovers, but not children.

“I had rose trees outside my former home. I sat between them one day, working on this.” She held up the cloth. “My needle pricked me. I saw the blood on the snow, and I mused about how it would be wonderful to have a daughter as white as snow, as red as blood, and black as ebony. My wish came true. I had twins. One had dark hair like the red rose tree, and the other had skin like the white rose tree and the snow surrounding it. She even had ebony hair and blood-red lips. Exactly how I imagined her.”

Mordred knew who they were. After his death, he had listened to many stories to stave off the boredom of being a spirit. He knew of Snow White, Rose Red, and their awful mother. But nobody said who their mother was, only that she was a cruel and vain queen.

Said queen had encased the rosebud in ice before crushing it in her palm and letting the ice dust fall to the snow.

“Ugly and ungrateful brats. There is nothing else to say of them.” She stood up and turned around, facing the knight. “I was foolish in my youth.” A line of crimson trickled down the Snow Queen’s cheeks.

“My lady, you’re bleeding.”

She put a hand up her eyes, and then examined it. “Oh. My apologies, but do not worry about me. For it does me no harm.” She smiled and wiped the blood away.

She was like him. Mordred also bled from the eyes, not knowing why he cried scarlet tears. It seemed she too saw the world as it truly was.

The Snow Queen pondered the blood on her frozen hands. “I do not know why I cry like this, for I feel nothing. I think that cut from long ago was the last time I ever let myself bleed.”

“You’re lucky. I wish I could stop feeling like you, my queen. Maybe then the pain won’t get in the way.”

“Your wish shall be granted soon, Mordred. Once you complete the Game of Reason, you shall be your own master, and we will rule together.”

Mordred nodded and silently accompanied her back to the palace.


	2. Solstice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first meeting.

Mordred stopped bothering to keep track of time long ago. Being a spirit felt like eternity anyway. The sun rising and setting barely mattered anymore. He was dead. They were all dead.

Well, almost all of them. He sneered at the thought of the remainders of his so-called “family” that were supposedly still alive. Mordred cursed them. Kingship was in his grasp, and they took it all away, culminating in him dying at his father’s hands.

He hated them. For they are all monsters. Every single one of them.

The wind picked up and it became colder. Mordred gazed upward and saw snow descending from the sky. He didn’t pay it any mind. He couldn’t feel it anyway. The snow continued to fall over the ruins of Camelot, piling up more and more into a kind of blanket over the once prosperous kingdom.

Mordred was always fascinated by ice and snow. He didn’t really like the cold, but something was intriguing about it. He felt safe walking on ice. Ice is not like water. Ice couldn’t consume him the way water could.

Mordred heard something above him and looked up. He could see an ice sled flying through the air, pulled by pure white birds made out of snow. The snow fluttered around it as if carrying it all and making way for the peculiar driver. As the sled settled on the ground, he could see said driver. The stranger was a woman who looked to be made of ice and wore a white dress, shining crown, and fur cloak. She stepped out of the sled, coating her path with frost, and looked around.

“Camelot. It’s been a long time.” The lady turned to look at the spirit of a once-living knight.

“You must be Mordred.”

She could see him. She knew him. The knight wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“Who are you? How do you know who I am?”

He couldn’t shake the feeling that he’s seen her before.

“You must not recognize me. It has been many years.”

Mordred then realized. It had only been a few times, but he did see her before. He remembered seeing glimpses of her as she soared through the sky on many a winter.

“You…”

“Yes. It is a pleasure to finally meet you, son of Arthur. I am the Snow Queen.” She smiled and curtsied. Mordred awkwardly bowed in response. As he did, he could see she wore iron shoes that were chained to her. They were heated, but she didn’t seem affected by it at all. He decided to ignore it for now.

“...What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to offer you a deal. You wish for power, yes? So much so that you were willing to die.”

Mordred didn’t say anything. He only nodded.

“Then I will give you an offer. I’ll restore your old body, you come with me to my home, and you become my knight. I will give you a test, and if you pass, you shall be king.” The Snow Queen held out her hand.

Mordred couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Winter itself was giving him a second chance. He shook her hand. Once he was king, he would finally enact revenge.

“The deal is set.” The Snow Queen lifted her arms and cast a spell. The snow flurried around Mordred. All of a sudden, he began to feel the piercing chill surrounding him as his senses came back to himself. It started at the very tips of his hands and feet, and slowly the frigid bitterness managed to reach his head and chest.

For the first time, the cold was a welcome relief.

When his body fully came back, Mordred looked down at himself in amazement. He even had new icy armor. The knight looked up and saw the Snow Queen holding Clarent. She took the sword out of its sheath.

Mordred knew what to do. He knelt to the ground before her.

“I pledge to you my loyalty.”

She knighted him and gave Clarent to him.

“This blade belongs to you.” She went to Mordred and unexpectedly kissed him on his forehead. Suddenly the overwhelming sting of the ice around him disappeared completely.

“What was that?”

“So you will be safe from the cold. Now come.” The queen motioned for him to join her as she walked back to her sled.

Mordred followed her closely, finally able to leave the ruins of Camelot.


End file.
